Willy’s Wonderland Review: Utterly Bonkers and Brilliant

Nicolas Cage takes one of his strangest and most unique roles to date as we bring you our Willy’s Wonderland review.

Stranded in a remote town with a car that won’t work and no way to pay the local repair shop, The Janitor (Nic Cage) agrees to spend the night in an abandoned theme park full of animatronic characters that were once a joy to the kids of the town, but now hold a dark secret.

As night falls, these once happy mascots come to life and they’re out for blood. Survive at any cost, it’s only one night!

Willy’s Wonderland stars Nic Cage (Mandy) alongside Emily Tosta and Beth Grant. Directed by Kevin Lewis. 

Willy’s Wonderland is without a doubt one of the hardest films I will probably ever have to review.

A film that leaves me questioning not only this film but every other movie I’ve ever witnessed previously. 

Torn between my head that knew that I was watching something truly out there and my heart which knew it was having one hell of a time doing so!

This animatronic horror has been heavily compared to the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise.

With a similar premise of a restaurant that at night the animatronics come alive and kill all the guests inside.

But aside from being heavily influenced by the franchise and being set in an identical location Willy’s Wonderland steps out from the franchise comparisons with some of the weirdest and most incredible direction choices I’ve seen for quite some time.

First of all our main character is just named ‘The Janitor’ which instantly makes me feel as though the filmmakers are a bit lazy similar to ‘The Protagonist’ in Christopher Nolan’s Tenet.

But this film is actually watchable and enjoyable in comparison.

What makes this so different from our other unnamed protagonist is that it’s all staged like a comic book feature.

This unknown hero who swoops in and saves the day and doesn’t reveal one single character trait.

We are just a mere spectator like the town and its inhabitants to the insanity and badassery of one Nicolas Cage.

Willy’s Wonderland almost feels like Nicolas Cage himself is the superhero.

We as an audience all know who ‘The Janitor’ is and no more needs to be said about it.

Riding into the scene in his beautiful Mustang, shades on, cowboy boots on and what I absolutely loved about the movie is that every hour his watch beeps and he grabs a can of his caffeine drink, sucks it down and then has the energy to continue being badass.

This ‘serum’ gives Cage his powers throughout the movie and his powers just so happen to be laying waste to animatronic monsters.

In between destroying animatronic creatures that have come alive without even questioning this fact or acting surprised in any way shape or form The Janitor goes about his day cleaning and making the abandoned amusement park look clean and tidy in between the madness.

It’s an absolutely outrageous movie from start to finish but for some reason, I just can’t keep my eyes off it!

The animatronics are actually superb, how they’re animated and portrayed in this abandoned diner and the fight sequences are equal parts gory and hilarious as being attacked by a giant cartoon gorilla just can’t be taken seriously.

As always with recent Nicolas Cage horror movies, it’s gory, real gory.

Taking up his own superhero role The Janitor seems to have this immense power over the animatronics that other characters do not.

Whilst other figures in the film seem weak against these animatronic monsters it’s The Janitor who has all the tools to lay waste to these creatures with relative ease aside from the final showdown with Willy himself.

Even better is that when Cage is laying waste to these animatronic creatures there’s blood flying everywhere which makes absolutely no sense but it’s just part of the insanity that makes Willy’s Wonderland so special.

It’s never taking itself seriously, we have a protagonist that doesn’t say a word throughout the entire movie and we have a group of kids who try and break The Janitor free from Willy’s Wonderland knowing the sinister secret of the town that is revealed later in the movie.

It’s such a hard film to review as the film as a whole is outrageously crazy but at the same time, it is utterly brilliant.

With little in the way of dialogue from Cage’s character, this is the perfect film to watch with your buddies, a few drinks, some nachos and you, the audience provide your own commentary and interpretations of what on earth you are witnessing.

Whilst this film has clearly been inspired by the Five Nights at Freddy’s franchise it has been given the Cage treatment.

I’ll be very surprised if I find a comprehensive review of Willy’s Wonderland once it has been released as it’s just a film that needs to be seen to be believed.

There are so many unanswered questions to be asked by the time the credits roll such as:

Why do the animatronics bleed?

How does The Janitor not seem surprised when the animatronics come to life?

How does a certain pinball machine become more important than the situation around him?

I have absolutely no idea what I just witnessed but I do know that I was glued to the screen from start to finish and not for one second did I want it to end!

Check out our video review on our theme park / attractions page Lift Hills and Thrills below:

Signature Entertainment Presents Willy’s Wonderland Home Premiere on Digital Platforms 12th February